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Despite largely struggling to displace Mark Hughes’ preferred central-midfield duo of Mario Lemina and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oriol Romeu has become a mainstay in the position under current Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The Spaniard once again started in the 2-0 defeat against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, and his performance perhaps wasn’t up to the standard that Saints fans have been used to from him previously.

The former Chelsea man is there to put pressure on the opposition and break up the play, as well as winning the ball back and generally protecting the backline – his role becomes even more important when the middle centre-back, Jack Stephens in recent weeks, brings the ball out of the defence.

Romeu certainly did his bit in terms of the former as he made two tackles and three interceptions, but his distribution from the 48 passes he had was a real negative – a success rate of less than 69% followed as the 27-year-old struggled when in possession.

Yes, the south coast outfit were largely under pressure against when of the better teams in the Premier League, but he should have been doing better.

Attentions turn to the huge clash against Fulham at St Mary’s on Wednesday when the hosts will be looking to pick up a crucial three points that could move them out of the relegation zone.

Hasenhuttl has preferred to stick with a five-at-the-back formation in recent times but the fact he switched to four at half-time against the Gunners proves that things may be changing, and sacrificing a centre-back could also lead to midfield changes.

The 51-year-old used the former system that some people would conceive as negative in the reverse against Cardiff City, using Romeu, James Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg in the centre.

It wasn’t a tactic that worked and when you are trying to break down an opponent and a side that could come to St Mary’s for a draw, you don’t need those three players.

In fact, Ward-Prowse is showing the aggression in his game that is one of his Spanish teammate’s strengths, and he and Hojbjerg are good enough to do a job against Claudio Ranieri’s men alone, allowing Hasenhuttl to bring in another much-needed attacking player to the starting XI.

Aston Villa are considering a cut-price move for Brentford midfielder Christian Eriksen, according to 90min.

The Lowdown: Eriksen’s record against Villa

The Danish playmaker made a return to English football in the New Year, signing for the Bees until the end of the season. He has helped Thomas Frank’s side to pull away from the relegation zone, with Brentford winning all four games in which Eriksen has played 90 minutes.

The 30-year-old is yet to face Steven Gerrard’s men since his return to the Premier League, with the attacking midfielder previously playing six games against Villa for Tottenham, resulting in five wins.

The Latest: Villa interest in Eriksen

According to 90min, Villa are among a number of clubs who are looking into offering Eriksen a contract.

Crystal Palace, Everton, Newcastle United and West Ham are also considering moves, while Spurs are another side credited with an interest.

Eriksen wants to remain in the Premier League and isn’t thought to be demanding a six-figure wage.

The Verdict: Shrewd move?

Gerrard doesn’t have an out-and-out attacking midfielder on the books at Villa Park at this moment in time, with both Philippe Coutinho and Emiliano Buendia labelled as wingers by Transfermarkt.

On that basis, bringing in Eriksen – who has been labelled a ‘superstar’ by Graeme Bailey – could be a shrewd move on a free transfer.

He has bundles of Premier League experience, contributing to 120 goals in 231 games, so that could be most useful as Gerrard looks to take Villa to the next level in his first full season in charge in the Midlands.

In other news: Sky Sports journalist reveals that Villa ‘officials’ have now moved for new target who ‘Gerrard wants’

Newcastle United have been handed a key injury relief over central midfielder Joe Willock…

What’s the latest?

Magpies boss Eddie Howe has explained why the midfielder was not in the squad to face Wolves on Friday night in their 1-0 win over Bruno Lage’s men.

The ex-Arsenal man has been struggling with a knee injury and the head coach is now confident that he will not be out of action for an extended period of time.

Howe told The Chronicle: “Joe wasn’t going to make it, so we made a decision on him earlier in the week – I can’t remember the day, but he’s gone away, he’s had an injection in his knee. We hope that that will fix the problem for him.

“We don’t think he’ll be out long-term, we think it won’t be long before he’s back in contention to play, but until he’s back, you can never say never. But we hope that’s fixed the pain that he’s had.”

Eddie Howe will be ecstatic

The Toon boss will surely be ecstatic with Willock’s recovery as his comments indicate that he is on the verge of overcoming the problem with his knee.

Having Willock back fit and available will be a big boost for Howe as he has the quality to be a match-winner for the team on his day.

He showcased his quality in the Premier League last season as he enjoyed a sensational loan spell with the club. The midfielder joined on loan from Arsenal in January and ended the campaign on a whopping eight top-flight goals, which shows that he has the ability to score goals at this level.

Although, he has found goals harder to come by since signing on a permanent basis. Willock has two goals in 25 matches this term, but his 22 starts in the division suggest that Howe still likes what he sees from the Englishman out on the pitch in spite of his lack of goals in comparison to 2020/21.

Whilst he has not been as prolific in the final third, he has added bite to his game in the middle of the park. The ex-Arsenal man has made an impressive 3.2 tackles and interceptions per game, which shows that he is getting stuck in and winning the ball back for his team.

Therefore, Howe will be ecstatic with his prospective return as he offers a defensive steeliness and has the potential to win a game if he can rediscover his goalscoring touch from midfield.

AND in other news, Howe must boldly axe NUFC’s “breathtaking” £93k-p/w “jewel” who drives Shearer “mad”…

An update on Tottenham Hotspur’s links to former star and Brentford playmaker Christian Eriksen has now come to light in the last 24 hours.

The Lowdown: Lilywhites links emerge…

In the last few weeks, manager Antonio Conte has been tipped to potentially make a move for his former Inter Milan star this summer as his Bees contract winds down.

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A host of clubs across the Premier League, at least according to 90min, are also said to be showing interest in Eriksen with the Dane having impressed under Thomas Frank.

As per iNews, Brentford have described him as the ‘perfect’ signing, but Football Insider claim the 30-year-old has his eyes on a ‘sensational’ return to north London.

Indeed, according to their sources, Eriksen ‘would be keen’ on signing for Spurs again with The Times now sharing an update from the Lilywhites’ side.

The Latest: The Times share big Eriksen claim…

As per the big name outlet, the feeling is mutual from Spurs, with the club and transfer chief Fabio Paratici now ‘considering a move’ to re-sign Eriksen.

Now backing recent claims, it appears Tottenham do indeed hold a firm interest in the Denmark international legend.

The Verdict: Get it done?

Eriksen would undoubtedly inject some creativity going forward, having made more key passes per 90 on average this season than every Spurs player bar Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski (WhoScored).

The fact Paratici and co snap him up for free is another incentive to move, especially considering chairman Daniel Levy himself once valued the player at a staggering £130 million, according to reliable reporter Tom Hopkinson of The Mirror.

In other news: Conte personally approves ‘monster’ player move as Tottenham take pre-summer action, find out more here.

West Bromwich Albion have been dealt a big injury blow on their midfield star Alex Mowatt.

What’s the latest?

That is according to the latest reports via the West Brom website, stating that the 27-year-old midfielder has undergone surgery to address the groin injury sustained against Nottingham Forest last Monday.

The Englishman will now commence a period of rehabilitation and is expected to be ready to “conduct a full pre-season alongside his teammates” this summer.

Big blow for Bruce

Mowatt’s spell on the sidelines represents a big blow for Steve Bruce, with the 27-year-old having played in 13 of the 14 league games that Bruce has been in charge.

He was a regular under former manager Valerien Ismael too, starting 79% of the Baggies’ games in total this season.

Considering the lack of consistency this season at the Hawthorns this season, Mowatt has somewhat maintained the esteem that we saw in his performances for Barnsley the season prior.

Among the West Brom squad, Mowatt ranks first for key passes per match with 1.4 per game, and has earned a FotMob rating that makes him the best rated Baggies player this season with an overall rating of 7.37 – with the 27-year-old justifying former Albion player Jonathan Greening’s claim that he was “one of the best signings of the season.”

His average of 30 accurate passes per match earn him a rank of second place in the squad, just behind Matthew Clarke – who has 31.

Mowatt will be a big miss for the Baggies, though it will be interesting to see who comes in for the former Leeds United man with Jayson Molumby surely looking to prove a point in these remaining three games.

Molumby replaced Mowatt in the 54th minute against Nottingham Forest and will be looking to get a run of games under Steve Bruce in a bid to end the season strong, before of course returning to parent club Brighton and Hove Albion.

AND in other news: West Brom now plot bid for “superb” £2.3k-p/w sensation, he “gets you off your seat”

At just 20 years of age, Aston Villa striker Cameron Archer is already a well-known figure amongst the first team, having made his Premier League debut this campaign.

Moreover, a hat-trick against Barrow and a goal against Chelsea in the EFL Cup, as well as six goals in four EFL Trophy appearances for the U23s, has shown that the Englishman is on the verge of regular game time for the Villa first team.

There has been evidence of youngsters becoming first-team regulars for Villa, with 20-year-old midfielder Jacob Ramsey an excellent example.

To ensure that his progress isn’t stunted though, the West Midlands outfit sent the youngster on loan to Championship outfit Preston North End for the remainder of the season, and the striker has already made a big impression.

Within minutes of coming off of the bench on his debut for the Whites, Archer netted against one of Villa’s fierce rivals in West Bromwich Albion, securing a 2-0 win for his loan side.

Since then, the 20-year-old has started Ryan Lowe’s side’s following two league matches, blanking in a 2-2 draw at home to Bristol City and scoring the sole goal last time out away at Hull City.

Following the loanee’s debut, Lowe said: “He’ll just get better in terms of our style, he’s just got to adapt, it’s a little bit different to how they play at Villa.

“What we’ve got to do is make sure we get him in the right areas, in the first half we didn’t get him in the right areas, we didn’t slide many balls down the sides of them. Fantastic performance, really pleased for him, the more games he plays, the better he will be.”

Three games in and two goals to show for it, the opening weeks of Archer’s loan spell have gone exactly to plan, with the striker’s temporary move having the potential of being a masterstroke for both clubs.

For Preston, they are still well in with a shout of securing a finish in the playoff places, with Lowe’s side sat in 11th with 41 points, four off sixth-placed West Brom, all though the Baggies do have a game in hand.

With the Englishman’s goals, the Lancashire outfit could propel up the table and find themselves breathing down the necks of the second tier’s elite.

As for Villa, the hope will be that Steven Gerrard will be receiving a striker with much more experience of playing senior football at a high level who can then be integrated into his squad as and when he’s needed.

To think that the 20-year-old could be leading the line for Villa as early as next season seems a rather tall ask, however, Ollie Watkins’ future is uncertain, with Arsenal continuously linked with the 26-year-old whilst Danny Ings hasn’t had the most impressive start to his Villa tenure.

The main hope will be that Archer will return to the West Midlands as an improved player who can properly break through in Gerrard’s side next campaign, potentially saving the club millions on a Watkins replacement in the process.

In other news: Steven Gerrard drops exciting injury update that’ll have Villa fans buzzing

Sunderland maintained their spot in the play-offs with a 1-1 draw at home to Rotherham in League One on Tuesday night.

The Black Cats are fifth in the table and one point ahead of seventh, as it stands, and know that a win on the final day of the season against Morecambe, who are battling against the drop, will seal their place in the top six.

It was an eventful night for Michael Ihiekwe at the Stadium of Light as he went from hero to zero for The Millers. He opened the scoring in the 17th minute before turning the ball into his own net in the 88th minute to gift Alex Neil’s team a point.

Sunderland did not register a single shot on target in the match as they struggled to break Paul Warne’s well-structured side down.

The home side were, therefore, a tad lucky to come away from the game with a point to show for their efforts as they did not trouble the opposition goalkeeper at all. Neil’s attackers struggled on the night and one player, in particular, who let the head coach down was centre-forward Nathan Broadhead.

Off the ball, he was a lightweight. As per SofaScore, he lost four of his six (66.6%) individual battles and this shows that he was dominated from a physical standpoint. He made one tackle in the match whilst failing to make a single interception, clearance, or block as he failed to help the defence out when Rotherham had the ball.

On the flip side of the game, he offered no attacking quality. As per SofaScore, he did not register a single key pass or shot on goal, whilst also failing to complete a single dribble. He only had 19 touches of the ball, with goalkeeper Anthony Patterson having 32, and completed just nine passes.

Broadhead struggled to get into the game in the final third as he let Neil down on and off the ball throughout the match. The Everton loanee has been sublime this season, with nine goals in 14 starts, but this was a performance to forget from the Welshman.

He must now dust himself down and work hard in training ahead of the crunchtime clash with Morecambe on Saturday. Neil will need the striker at his clinical best to ensure that the Black Cats are competing for a spot in the Championship via the play-offs next month.

AND in other news, Speakman howler: SAFC may now be on the verge of repeating brutal Hugill disasterclass…

Celtic forward Johnny Kenny returned to action for Ireland’s under-19s following an injury scare earlier in the week.

The Lowdown: Stretched off

The 18-year-old made the move to Parkhead in January, arriving from Sligo Rovers in a deal worth an initial £135,000.

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He has had multiple setbacks in Glasgow already and is still awaiting his senior Hoops debut, although he did score on his Celtic B debut earlier this month and is currently away with Ireland’s under-19s.

Unfortunately, the teenage striker had to be stretched off, holding his knee against England on Wednesday with what looked to be a knee problem.

The Latest: Goalscoring return for Kenny

Irish broadcaster RTE shared a match report from the Ireland under-19s’ 4-1 defeat to Portugal on Saturday evening.

They shared details of Kenny opening the scoring in the first half, making a swift return to action from what appeared to be a nasty injury.

The Verdict: Good news

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou already has concerns over both Tom Rogic and Daizen Maeda during the international break, and news of Kenny being stretched off during the week wasn’t ideal. However, it is positive to know that his issue wasn’t serious and that he could return to action within a few days.

Hopefully the 18-year-old will continue to find the net with regularity for Celtic’s B team over the coming months, which could lead to a breakthrough into Postecoglou’s senior squad next season.

In other news: Sources close to Celtic drop positive Karamoko Dembele update as contract deadline looms

Wolves are ‘very interested’ in making a move for Middlesbrough centre-back Dael Fry this summer, according to transfer expert Dean Jones.

The Lowdown: Fry impressing for Boro

The 24-year-old is enjoying another impressive season for Boro, making 19 appearances in the Championship and helping his side sit seventh in the table.

Fry also tasted victory away to Manchester United in the FA Cup last week, as he prevented Cristiano Ronaldo from scoring and kept him largely quiet throughout. The Boro beast recording a team high 7.9 match rating, via Whoscored, starting in the middle of a back three against the Portuguese superstar.

The 6 foot 1 ace has been linked with a move to Wolves in the summer, as Bruno Lage eyes up potential new signings.

The Latest: Wolves back to make signing

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Jones confirmed Wanderers’ interest in Fry, claiming Scott Sellars and co are indeed ‘looking’ at him:

“Dael Fry and Tavernier are obviously making headlines at the moment following Middlesbrough’s great win.

“Both of those players will be available in the summer if Middlesbrough don’t manage to win promotion. So, there are a lot of Premier League clubs looking at these two players, Dael Fry, in particular, Wolves, Brighton, West Ham and Southampton are all very interested in him.”

The Verdict: Good for squad depth

Fry may not be someone who would come in as a guaranteed starter, given his lack of Premier League experience, but he is a dominant presence who has won a mammoth 4.2 aerial duels per game in the league this season.

With Romain Saiss and Willy Boly now in their 30s and Conor Coady edging towards that milestone, however, the Englishman could be a future starter for Wolves.

At 24, Fry is at a great age in terms of his peak being ahead of him and he may simply be a player who is now too good for the Championship and is ready to make the step up.

In other news, Tim Spiers has made a big Wolves injury claim. Read more here.

Aston Villa have been particularly busy when it comes to adding new players to their squad during the January transfer window, with Calum Chambers being the latest addition.

However, with the summer transfer window in mind, it seems as though the Midlands club could be in danger of losing one of their key players.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from The Sun, Villa right-back Matty Cash is in talks with Atletico Madrid over a potential permanent move this summer, with the Spanish champions’ manager Diego Simeone keen on finding a replacement for Kieran Trippier, who joined Newcastle United earlier this month.

The report also claims that the 24-year-old is among Atletico’s top targets and that they are willing to splash out a fee in the region of £30m-£40m during the summer transfer window for the full-back, who is apparently keen on the move.

Villa signed Cash in the summer of 2020 from Championship club Nottingham Forest in a deal worth an initial fee of £14m.

The defender has since become a crucial figure for Villa by making 51 appearances across all competitions, chipping in with one goal and three assists along the way.

Fans would be furious

Having played more Premier League minutes than anyone else for Villa this season, as well as earning an overall performance rating of 6.88/10, making him the fifth-highest rated player at the club according to WhoScored, it’s safe to say that Cash is an important player for Steven Gerrard’s side. Therefore, it would surely leave a lot of fans raging if they were to offload him any time soon.

Also, with the Poland international being the only player in Villa’s senior squad at the moment who predominantly plays in the right-back position, it would be a real howler from Johan Lange to let the 24-year-old leave without finding a suitable replacement first.

While it should be a certainty that Villa would not let Cash leave during the current transfer window, it would also be in the club’s best interests to decline any offer which may come their way from Atletico or anyone interested in signing the right-back during the summer.

In other news: Gerrard could unearth the next Michael Carrick at Villa with move for 20 y/o “diamond”